I Survived My Trip, oh and some stash.....

Back from NY and had a blast. Here's what we did in two and a half days: Ripley's Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Empire State Building, Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center), Staten Island Ferry, Ground Zero, Bodies Exhibit, dinner in Little Italy, The Guggenheim (hated it!), and Museum of Natural History. WHEW. It was so much fun. We stayed at the Westin in Times Square and it was so comfortable and clean and just awesome.

The plane ride...well, I apparently was the only one crying during takeoff (so says my sister), but I don't believe it, lol. No crying on the way home though, so I'm pretty proud about that. Both flights were great and without incident. It was so smooth getting into and around the airports and on the flights. I was surprised. I have hope I may go somewhere else on a plane someday. Yaaayy me! Here's proof I was there:

Ground Zero-lots of construction happening!

Overlooking the Hudson

View from Top of the Rock

I have lots more pics, but most are from the Metropolitan Museum and the Natural History Museum. I didn't think you'd want tons of Greek Statuary and funerary steles, so I'll save those! But I must say, it's the most magnificent art museum I've ever been too. The people we came into contact with, in all our ventures, were the friendliest, most helpful, ever. With the exception of the creepy guy in the Lincoln Town Car who tried to pick us up and take us who knows where--uh NO WAY buddy!!, I highly recommend NYC!

OK, enough vacation ramblings. I picked up a few stash items this past weekend from my LNS, and here they are:

I WILL have stitching updates very soon. Don't you hate when people say "I've been busy"? I mean, whose not busy, right? So I hate saying that. Life gets in the way of stitching sometimes, and that's where I've been the past week. I hope your week has gone better and you've been more productive than me in the stitchy arena! Thank you all for your comments and encouragement-it helped so much! Until next time,

Uh Oh Snow!

There's a Winter Storm Warning for my area. We're supposed to be getting 16-24 inches between Friday and Saturday. I picked a great weekend to fly to NYC, didn't I? I haven't flown since 1988---FOR A REASON. I'm terrified, lol. My sister talked me into a whirlwind trip and even extended it for a day because I was going. The woman would NOT leave me alone until I said yes. Everytime I said "No", she said "So, that's a yes??!!" Wish me luck, people. It's only an hour flight, but holy moly.....we leave Friday morning at 9:15am, and come back late Sunday night. I should have asked my doc for a tranquilizer!

And speaking of SNOW, here's a tiny more progress on Green Snowman:

And here's a little sneak peek at a project that is almost ready. I'll have it done next week sometime, when I get back. I WILL be coming back--right? Sure, right, of course Tammy. Don't be riduculous! It's not like a flock of geese ever brought down a jet! And no one would ever get on a plane with an underwear bomb!! Don't be silly!! GAH!

Enjoy your weekends, and do something fun (stitching included)! Until next time,

Shepherd's Bush Green Snowman, etc.

What? You thought it was done? *insert maniacal laughter here* Nah, just a little progress, that's all. Just wait though. When work is done April 1, things are gonna bust loose up in this joint. :p

I've made my peace with the loosey goosey fabric. I'm not pulling tight at all, yet still have the dreaded holes. Guess what? I'm gonna live with it. I like him so far. Now, if I can just finish him before he melts this Spring.....

I picked up a little Trail Creek Farm chart. It's a witch. It was a given. I posted about this when it first came out, but it was a kit for a treat bag and I didn't want to make a treat bag. Thankfully, you can now just buy the chartpak. Awesome!

Boy, those pics are really no-frills, aren't they? Sorry 'bout that.

All's well in my little corner of the globe, and for that, I'm supremely thankful. It's a beautiful 55 degrees right now and we may be getting some snow this weekend. VA is like that. Have a wonderful week, and I'll be catching up on blogging in the next day or so. I have a few new followers. How nice is that? Very nice I say! I'll be adding all of you to the blog roll asap! Thank you so much for all your comments previously and until next time,

A Nose By Any Other Name...

I'm working on two projects at one time, so I don't have tons of progress. BUT, the snowman has taken shape! If anyone else has done this one, did you find the fabric a bit "loose"? It seems to pull more than the red fabric did, so there are little "holes" in between all the stitches. I don't like that! Maybe when it's all done, it'll be OK? I'm IN LOVE with his nose however.

Someone asked about the button switch-a-roonie I wanted to do on this. I think I will replace the original buttons with some tiny rose buttons. At least that's the plan right now. And hopefully I'll have a new design ready to go in another week or so. Stay tuned!

I hope everyone is having a great stitchy week! We are slowly getting the house back in order after the holidays and I hate doing it. You'd think with a small house it'd take no time whatsoever. WRONG!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

A New Year and a New Start !

Have I been phoning it in or what? It's OK, I can take it. :) I have been phoning it in, but need to get back to my blog. It is what kept me stitching last year and the year before, so I *need* to do this. Excuses, be gone!

So, I started stitching up Shepherd's Bush Green Snowman. A bit of a misnomer, because he's not actually green. But the fabby is! I hope this goes as quickly as the Red Snowman did for me! One thing I'll miss is that there is no sweet little sheep on this one. I've already decided to swap the buttons out for something else. We'll see how that works out.

I have one new little purchase. My friend got me a gift certifcate to my LNS and I treated myself to this one. It's a Christmas design, but the colors are oh so pretty! They didn't have the bluish purplish color (the wording is done in that), so I'll have to pick that up later. Thanks Julie! By the way, this is a SamSarah design.

I trust everyone had a lovely and wonderful holiday season! Thank you for the comments to the Jack/Christmas video. I totally swiped that from my cousin because I loved it so much! Thanks Kim!

My husband is the best. He got me a new Nikon D3000. I love this camera. Not too steep a learning curve for the auto features. I plan to really learn more about this camera in the coming months. Thanks hubby!

And thanks to anyone out there still listening and reading and commenting. I'm keenly aware of the time it takes to do so, and I appreciate when you can---and even when you can't! 'till next time,

Merry Christmas from me and Jack

Merry Christmas one and all! Hope everyone is getting lots of stitching done, because I'm SO NOT right now, lol.

Feel Like Giving?

You may have heard about the 4 murdered police officers in Washington state this past Sunday. If you are in a giving mood, please consider the Lakewood Police Independent Guild. Every penny you might want to donate goes directly to the families.

I would not normally post a message such as this, but as the wife of a police officer, I feel I should. Many people want to do something but don't know what. These families could use our help now. So, if during this season of giving, you feel the desire to donate to a good cause, click on the above link and take a look.

Many thanks.

I have lots of catching up to do and a few of you to email back---Lorraine, I have not forgotten you! Hopefully I can do that in the coming days. I have been extremely busy. I hope everyone is stitching up great things.

A Peek in the Cauldron and A Must Do

Well, let's just jump right into Christmas, shall we? Nevermind that pesky Halloween post just one down, OK? :p

I need to stitch this for myself this winter season. I finished the Red Snowman earlier this year and just love it-no I haven't framed it!

So, I may do that, or some other wintry sweet piece. Doesn't have to be Christmas per se. Speaking of that, I have a sneak peek of something I'm working on now and I have no idea if it'll be done soon or not! My work has kept me so so busy that I haven't had time to stitch hardly at all. I may need to shop around for a stitcher, as I have several other designs ready to go, but when they'll see the light of day I don't know.

So there it be, so to speak. I have lots of little visions, lots of designing in my head and lots of things in progress on the computer as well. Very little stitching. Anyone want to point me in the direction of how to win a lottery? That would free up a boatload of time, I tell you! I watched a great show on how lottery winners screw up their lives (not all of course!). Is it bad to say it made me feel a bit better? You truly must have your act together regardless of how much you have or do not have. That's the simple lesson. Stay away from credit, save your hard earned money and you can enjoy your "wealth" at any stage of the game! (but I still wanna win the lotto dangit.)

Sorry for the rambling. We're in the midst of paying off bills and I tend to wax philosophic about it, lol. Anyways, I need to go spend some time in blogland visiting all my buddies. I've picked up a few more followers---THANKS GUYS!--- and need to add them to my blogroll and check out their blogs if they have them. Boy, blogging really shows you that the world is full of the neatest and most interesting people. Get lots of stitching in this weekend and maybe some holiday decorating if you can--I hope to put a few stitches in and show something more than a pitiful peek next week! Ha! Till then,

Have a Magical Halloween !

I'd like to go fishing
for a star
and send it to you
wherever you are

To wrap you once more
in the spells of the night
and fill all your senses
with awe and delight

To make you a pirate
or perhaps a queen
To experience the magic
of Halloween

To capture again
the mystery and surprise
As can only be seen
Through a small child's eyes

-Nancy Hughes

I hope everyone enjoys a magical holiday. Remember all your loved ones, and especially those absent from this world.....

Lancaster Update and Stash

Better late than never! Lancaster was pretty fun. It rained. It was really relaxing and the Marriott in Lancaster is just gorgeous. It rained. I'm used to Hershey Lodge though and was disappointed there weren't more places to eat in the hotel (or a fireplace!). It rained. But being there with my mom and sis was great. It rained. We shall not speak about the spilled water incident however....oh, and did I mention it RAINED??!! Not for an afternoon, not for a couple days either. It was freezing cold and rained the entire time, lol. I had been all set to take capris and flippy flops until the last minute. Brrrrr! Made for cozy sleeping however! And I was just so thankful to have that uninterrupted time with my two main gals. Talking, laughing, eating, shopping. Yeah, doesn't get much better, does it?

Seems I see fewer and fewer vendors at these shows over the years. Anyone remember the Spirit of Cross Stitch gigs? Whoa, now, those shows were incredible. My feet hurt from walking so much and my eyes were blurry from all the goodness to see, but I guess with the internet, there's not such a need to spend the money and go show stuff off. I managed to get some things I didn't have yet though! That's the Shepherd's Bush green snowman in the back.


Now, you can't tell, but amidst all the pretty fiber is a green piece of linen, appropriately named, Kermit. This is for my Fanci That Frankie! It looks washed out here, but is really a pretty, Halloweeny green.

I also managed to get stitching on one of my new designs. Not quite sure what to name it just yet, but it'll come to me. Perhaps I'll have a sneak peek next post. Please don't hold me to that. I am so thankful I have the kind of job I do, working from home, but I really have to be vigilant about stitching and organizing my time. Otherwise, it falls by the wayside, I get tired, and .... oh, wait, I'm preaching to the chior!!! You guys know what I mean. Thanks to all you wonderful people for stopping in to see my stash. Gonna try to get caught up on blogs now! Hope your week is filled with wonderful Halloween Holiday preparations, baking, having fun, carving, and costuming--as well as stitching! See you later this week! Till then,

Mucho Halloween-O !

I am heading to Lancaster, PA this week for the Cross Stitch Show and I am so looking forward to some relaxing, no working, and spending some nice time with my mom and sis. So I don't really have anything new to show right now, but wanted to share some other stuff you might enjoy seeing.

Can't remember if I've ever shown my little Halloween quilt here, but here goes, in all it's humble little gory, er, glory. I made it a couple years ago:


I also wanted to show off my wall words that I got from Michael's. I love these things-they're peel and stick!

No, I don't care what the neighbors think.


The time I have for leisure web surfing and fun is WAY less now than it was a couple months ago, lol. Somehow, work just makes fun go POOF, doesn't it? Well, I will update after I get back from the show and hopefully I'll have some fun stash to show. I'm on the hunt for a lime green piece of linen for a Fanci-That! pattern......till next time,

Spooky Hollow and Etsy

I put a few charts up in my new Etsy Shop for those that may want them. Thank you for the kind words and encouragements. I appreciate it more than you know! Hopefully I'll be having another design out in a few weeks time.

Meanwhile, I have made a tiny bit of progress on my Spooky Hollow piece. This is so fun and don't you love that little pumpkin?


We've started (LATE!) our Halloween decorating. Some new lights that the dear hubby just had to have:

Work has been keeping me SO darn busy. But I can't complain. I was very lucky to be awarded my contract again and that will keep me until at least March. Then summer time is free until I start up again in the fall. Life is pretty OK sometimes. Until next time,